nRF Mesh overwrites previous devices (because of hardcoded uuid)

RE: nRF Mesh overwrites previous devices (because of hardcoded uuid)

tesc — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 12:58:19 GMT

Hi,

Another note. I see that you started by getting the nRF52840 Dongle. For development we highly recommend using an nRF52 series device Development Kit (e.g. nRF52840 DK) for development. The Dongle is first and foremost intended for providing PC connectivity, and for development a DK is much better. We also have a wider range of examples for the DKs in our SDKs. For instance, the nRF52840 Dongle (PCA10059) is not listed at all in the compatibility list for nRF5 SDK for mesh.

Regards,
Terje

RE: nRF Mesh overwrites previous devices (because of hardcoded uuid)

tesc — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 12:39:30 GMT

Hi,

I see. Thank you for the valuable feedback.

The crucial point where it all went wrong seems to be at the "Getting Started Assistant", which is intended for the new nRF91 series (LTE), and not for the nRF52 series (BLE, mesh, etc). From there it just rolled off in the completely wrong direction.

At least it all got cleared up in the end. Yes, you did find the documentation for the nRF5 SDK for Mesh there.

Thank you again for sharing the story, as it means we can learn from it and improve on it. It is highly appreciated!

Regards,
Terje

RE: nRF Mesh overwrites previous devices (because of hardcoded uuid)

Erhannis — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 18:54:25 GMT

Ah. Perhaps the root problem here, then, is that you (Nordic Semiconductor) have a whole heap of documentation, tools, and webpages, which support and/or are targeted at a variety of different devices, and the lines between them are unclear. The nRF52840 packaging directed me to nordicsemi.com/start52840dongle, which directed me to a Getting Started doc page, which had me download nRF Connect for Desktop, which contained a Getting Started Assistant, and assuming that to be relevant I followed its instructions to install the nRF Connect SDK. Fast-forward a few hours of frustration and failure and Googling, I asked and was told that the nRF Connect SDK did not support my device, and that I should use the Zephyr Getting Started Guide. In retrospect, given what you've told me, that was only relevant if I specifically wanted to run a Zephyr example project. Really, I was only trying to do that because I thought those were the example projects meant for my device. To finish the story, after finally getting the Zephyr code working, I posted my comment above, and have been informed that I should use the nRF5 SDK for Mesh, which (by the way) doesn't contain anything obviously useful in the Get Started tab, but rather, you need to click Get Documentation and find the Getting Started subcategory in the left panel. That's...five separate Getting Started pages/tools, one of which not even directly and clearly accessible from the tab sharing its name, each of the five subtly tailored to one several different use cases. I appreciate having lots of documentation, but when I can't tell that it's the WRONG documentation, it's significantly less helpful. Perhaps if every Getting Started page clearly listed what it DOES work for, and where to go if you have something else?

RE: nRF Mesh overwrites previous devices (because of hardcoded uuid)

tesc — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 14:56:15 GMT

Hi,

Thank you for sharing!

We have our own Bluetooth mesh stack, nRF5 SDK for Mesh, which is based on our nRF5 SDK (not Zephyr based). That means our current efforts are not directed towards the Zephyr Mesh stack, and our ability to support the Zephyr stack is rather limited. I will take note of this issue anyway, in case we get new related questions later or if we choose to go in the Zephyr direction for mesh in the future.

Regards,
Terje